Coveney looking forward to Fine Gael leadership contest

Simon Coveney claims he is looking forward to the Fine Gael leadership contest.

Enda Kenny is expected to address the issue of his departure at the parliamentary party meeting next Wednesday.

It is still unknown when or if he will volunteer to step down, but Leo Varadkar and Simon Coveney are the current favourites to replace him.

Housing Minister Coveney is promising to rebuild rural Ireland if he takes over.

"I'm looking forward to the leadership contest.

"It will give me an opportunity to really speak in a very direct way in terms of the kind of country that I think we need to aspire to create, but certainly a big part of that thinking is to rebalance Ireland and the dominance of Dublin at the moment is causing all sorts of problems," he said.

The Government is facing fresh claims that it is failing to address spiralling health waiting list delays after a patient was told a hospital could not see him for a neurological condition until at least 2024.